California, Connecticut, Iowa, New Jersey, New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Wisconsin have decided to make climate policy by suing power companies over carbon dioxide emissions. (NYT link requires registration). This usurps not only federal environmental regulation, but also state utility commission prerogatives. After all, it is the utility commissions that are charged with ensuring reliable electric power at "just and reasonable" rates. If you take coal out of that mix--as these lawsuits try to do--those rates will inevitably rise, and not insubstantially. But, really, this is so outrageous and out of bounds that I don't even know where to start.

The respective AG's of these states aren't called "aspiring governors" for nothing.